Early Spring Garden Update and more...

The early spring garden is starting to take shape. Garden activities have really picked up over the last few months. The cold frame was put up in the garden around the middle of February. The two compost bins were emptied and the compost was put on all of the garden beds on February 27th. Lettuce seeds were started indoors on February 28th. Celery, brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, cabbage, and broccoli seeds were started indoors on March 8th. Lastly, tomato and pepper seeds were started indoors on March 18th. The lettuce seedlings were moved out into the cold frame on March 5th and the cole crop seedlings were moved out into the cold frame around the middle of March. The tomato and pepper seedlings will be moved out into the cold frame either today or tomorrow.

The fall planted top setting onions did not fare to well. About half of them did not make it through the winter. Not sure what happened to them, but it appears that they rotted in the ground. I have never had that happen to these since I have been growing them. I did manage to replant most of them and at least some of those have started to grow now. The overwintered lettuce (variety Nevada) did okay covered by a plastic covered hoop, but they look a little rough.

204 onion transplants were planted out into the garden on March 20th. Approximately 1/3 were red blush hybrid and 2/3 were yellow candy hybrid. 46 lettuce seedlings were planted out into the garden on April 2nd, under a plastic covered hoop. The cole crop seedlings will not be planted out into the garden for another 2-3 weeks. I plan on seeding my garden peas and the Red Norland potatoes sometime within the next week.

As a reminder, if you are not receiving updates to this blog via email please visit the following link and get signed up, it is free: https://follow.it/tim-s-square-foot-garden-blog?action=followPub

     

The last of the fall carrots were harvested on January 14, 2026, which were about 1/3 or the total harvest. The first harvest of these took place in early October. They faired really well under the plastic covered hoop and the dry leaves (see pictures below). Currently my garden is buried under about 10 inches of snow. If you live anywhere east of the Rockies then you know that it has been very very cold over the last month. I am still hopeful to be able to get the cold frame up in the garden by the end of February, even if I do have to shovel snow off of the garden bed!!

I had a very productive garden in 2025. The biggest surprise was the Plum Regal tomatoes that I tried growing for the first time. They grew really well, with no signs of the blight disease that I have battled for the last several years. I will certainly be growing that tomato variety again next year. I tried to grow a different variety of celery in 2025, Hadrian, and it grew very well with no sign of the celery disease of past years. The rest of the garden also grew very well, despite the very dry conditions that existed later in the growing season. The Castle Dome broccoli grew well, but I still miss my Packman variety, which is no longer available. I was very impressed with the Katarina cabbage, as well as the Matchbox chili pepper (of which I saved the seeds from). I am really looking forward to warmer weather and to the start of the 2026 growing season.

     

Another garden season has come and gone. As of now, the garden is covered with about 5 inches of snow and temperatures have been sub zero a few times over the last few days, but the weather forecast is for much warmer weather over the next ten days, so all the snow should be melted soon.

Wow, this year’s fall garden produced really really well, despite the drought. The weather was abnormally warm until October 24th, when the garden experienced the first frost and minor freeze. Despite that, the fall garden continued to produce, with the help of some row covers. The warm season peppers and tomatoes were pulled up shortly after this time. The first harvest of fall cabbage and kohlrabi occurred around the third week of October and continued until almost the end of November. The first harvest or carrots started around the first week of October. I still have about half of the carrots in the ground covered with shredded tree leaves and a plastic covered hoop. I sure hope they made it through the very frigid temperatures (I think the snow cover should have helped to insulate them and keep them from freezing). I was able to get the topsetting onions planted in the garden on October 31st. These should overwinter with no issues. The first of the fall cauliflower was harvested on October 31st. It grew really well this fall with 5 of the 6 plants producing very large heads. The brussels sprouts harvest started on November 9th and finished up a few weeks later. The brussels sprouts harvest was about average this year. The last of the kohlrabi and cabbage did survive the very hard freeze and about 2 inches of snow on November 10th/11th, because the plants were covered with 2 row covers (they are pretty tough plants).

Just a few observations from this year’s fall garden. The fast maturing cabbage (Katarina) that I grew for the first time this year has impressed me. I think it is an excellent cabbage for the fall garden as it matures fast and also has great flavor. I will definitely be growing this again next year. The other cabbage variety that I have been growing for years, Golden Acre, also did very well in my fall garden. It takes a little longer to mature than Katarina, but it is also larger and I think it has good cold tolerance. Castle Dome, the new variety of broccoli I tried this year, did very well this fall, perhaps better than the spring planting. This is one of the varieties that is a replacement for my beloved Packman broccoli that is no longer available. I would like to trial another broccoli variety next spring, Pak-Pro, which is touted as another replacement to Packman.

     

Wow, it remains very very dry here in Central Indiana and it has also been unusually warm over the last several weeks, which has only made the drought worse. The temperatures have at least cooled down over the last day or so. Despite the dryness, the garden keeps producing since I have been doing some additional watering. Harvest continues on the lettuce, although probably not for much longer. The celery has really done well for me so far this year with more to come. Harvest has just finished up on the late planting of bush green beans. The tomatoes continue to produce but ripening is now at a much slower pace. Harvest continues on the jalapeno, hot banana, super chili (match box), and ancho (poblano) peppers. The four ancho pepper plants have now grown to nearly seven feet tall and are absolutely loaded with peppers, with so many that I have been giving them away. The first fall harvest of broccoli began on October 6th, with more to come. The first fall harvest of cabbage and kohlrabi is anticipated tomorrow. The carrots have really started to grow and look really good right now. The brussels sprouts are also doing pretty good right now with many small sprouts starting to form on the stalks. The cauliflower is just starting to push on small heads, but it won’t be ready to harvest for about another month or so.

I have had an occasional garden visitor over the last month or so, a groundhog! So far it has stayed away from the vegetable beds, which I am thankful for. Hopefully it stays away from them for the rest of the season. I have nicknamed it Pok Chop.

     

The weather has been very very dry over the last month, but at least it has cooled down a bit over the last week or so. Wow, the Plum Regal tomatoes have been outstanding so far this year!! I have processed two batches of Italian sauce for the freezer as well as multiple batches of salsa. I have also enjoyed eating fresh tomatoes on my salad. These tomatoes are very large and meaty for a plum tomato. I will definitely be growing this variety again next year. All of my peppers have been producing like crazy, with more coming on. I have just started to harvest the early August planted lettuce, with more to come. The August planted cabbage, cauliflower, kohlrabi, and broccoli seedlings are starting to get some size to them, although the heat and the dry conditions have been a challenge so far. I have also been harvesting celery over the past month. This celery (variety Hadrian) has shown some resistant to the Celery Anthracnose disease that I have been battling over the last several years. I did have three celery plants exhibit some signs of this disease earlier this year, and they were promptly pulled out. The other celery plants seem do be growing well right now. The two plots of late planted bush green beans have started to flower and I have noticed some very small beans forming on the plants, so it won’t be too much longer before harvest begins on them. The Scarlet Nantes carrots still seem a bit small, but continue to grow and should be fine as long as I keep them watered. I am hoping we get some rain soon, but the forecast does not look promising. Happy fall gardening!